AOL paid around $275 million (actual purchase price undisclosed) to buy the behavioral targeting network, Tacoda. AOL most likely didn't have the development team to build behavioral targeting technology in-house.

That left AOL's search engine renaissance missing the search re-targeting piece, the hottest area in paid search and conversion marketing. If search engine consolidation is all about search, then Tacoda and Advertising.com are valuable prizes for Yahoo -- or Google, which owns a 5 percent stake in AOL.

Tacoda had several slogans during its evolution (before being swallowed up by AOL). The startup was "The Audience Management Company" and "The Audience Company." My favorite: "Where the people are" … and Dave Morgan is not.

About the author

Kevin Heisler, formerly the executive editor of Search Engine Watch, is a search and advertising industry veteran. His former roles include VP, strategic accounts for integrated digital marketing firm 360i; director of business development for Didit Search Marketing; and search industry analyst at Jupiter Research.

The U.K. Supreme Court has granted permission in part for Google to appeal against a ruling relating to a dispute over the user information through cookies via use of the Apple Safari browser.
0 Comments